17 Chapter 16: Human Again

Luca lay sprawled out on the bed in the Guild's Guest quarters. Loudly snoring in dreamless sleep. Even nightmares couldn't penetrate the alcoholic induced slumber.

For a few hours, at least, everything was fine as Luca rested until finally, the door to the room opened wide and loud. Letting in the light of the morning sun to shine upon his face and wake him. As the air rushed into the otherwise musty room, a commanding female voice shouted out, "Alright. Luca, you've had more than enough sleep. You need to wake up, get washed up, get geared up, and move out to meet up with the rest of the team.

At the sound of the female voice, Luca grudgingly stirred as he felt the initial onset of what would be his first hangover, struggling as he did to open his eyes, his entire body betraying him and not wanting to move. What's wrong with me? Luca thought groggily in confusion, not really sure about what was going on. His vision was still heavy with sleep and stilted from the hangover. All Luca could really remember was staying up most of the night talking with Dominic over drinks and then being escorted to the guest room before passing out.

Ignoring the voice, Luca closed his eyes, embracing the pillow. This was the first time in days, weeks, months, he wasn't really sure that he had slept in a bed. Luca planned on enjoying every moment of it.

"Maybe you didn't hear me the first time." Said the woman much louder than before and full of fury as Lucas shifted his head to check the disturbance, still laying on his belly. It was the only way he'd managed to fall asleep with his wings.

With quick and even strides, she walked over with heavy footsteps to the front of the bed and grabbed on to the base of the mattress. She looked directly at him as Luca started to freak out as she lifted it into the air without any effort. With a look of disgust, she flipped the mattress, and with it him, out on to the floor. "You need to get up, get showered, and get downstairs. I'll give you an extra five minutes so you can make sure you wash up. Consider this your protip. Shower, you stink."

Completely pissed off, Luca tried to rapidly roll over and pick himself up to lash out at the woman but was stopped, recoiling in pain. The wings on his back were sending shooting signals of pain everywhere in his body. Luca tried to roll over on to his back but stopped, recoiling in pain. The wings on his back, sending signals of pain everywhere. His body from aggravated and sensitive nerve endings.

A shadow passed over him, and Luca realized the woman was bent over standing almost on top of him, her hand clutching the base of one of his wings. Gods, I never thought those would be some kind of stupid pressure point. "Could you let go?" Luca asked, trying to be polite now that he knew he was dealing with someone who could harm him. "That really hurts. Who are you anyway?"

Luca couldn't see her expression, but he could imagine the angry scowl on her face. "You're new here and don't know how things work. So this will be your one freebie. I'm Tatiana, they call me the Spark Sword. I'm your new team leader. You may remember me as the one who offered to teach you how to fight. As your team leader, when I say do something, you do it. That's how the chain works. I don't care who thinks your hot shit. You answer to me."

"Uh, ok. If that's how it needs to be, I don't actually want trouble. I did choose to be on your team," Muttered Luca as he slowly picked himself up from the floor. Standing up, expecting a rush of pain to his head and not feeling it, Luca said a silent thanks for the magic of the place already erasing the hangover he had woken up with.

In a sudden moment of embarrassment, Luca realized to his horror that he was almost naked except for the pair of tattered boxers he was wearing. In a panic, he reached down and covered himself with a blanket

"Jesus Christ, grow up. What are you? A kid? How old are you?" Reprimanded Tatiana as she tossed some clothes at Luca. "You don't need to worry. You haven't got anything I haven't seen before. I don't have time to worry about your delicate sensibilities. This is your new uniform. I've made a few modifications so you can wear them. You'll be wearing the same thing that everyone else does on the team when we roll out. You've got ten minutes and don't even think about skipping that shower. I could smell you from the hall."

Luca looked around, unsure of where the shower was or how to proceed. In irritation, Tatiana grabbed him by the arm and shoved him towards the door near the back of the room where the shower was. "It's right there. I'll see you downstairs in ten. If I have to come and get you, you'll have hell to pay. You've already pissed me off" Without saying another word, she turned and walked out of the room, leaving Luca more confused than anything.

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Knowing better than to waste time, Luca started the shower, enjoying the hot water rolling over his face as he took a bar of soap and vigorously scrubbed at his skin. It made his stomach cringe when he saw a steady stream of black, brown, and red roll off of him, the collected filth and grime from the last few days. Filth he hadn't even been aware of. I needed this badly. But I didn't notice the dirt on me. Do I have some kind of glamour on? It was a question he pushed aside for another time. For now, he was just thankful for the hot water and soap.

Luca leaned forward, bracing himself against the wall of the shower as he let himself enjoy the water and zoned out. For how long, he wasn't sure, and in a moment of panic, Luca realized he had lost track of time. Losing track of time. Luca had a moment of panic, not knowing how much time had elapsed. Now is not the time to make a bad impression. I need these people. Why do I do this to myself? He thought as he turned off the water and rushed out of the shower, not bothering to dry himself as he put on the uniform Tatiana had left for him.

He was pleasantly surprised by how well it fit him and how comfortable it felt. Black cargo pants with leather reinforcement on the bony prominences, a grey Henley, and a crimson overcoat with inlaid metal fibers for protection. The end of the overcoat had a hood he could pull down towards his eyes to obscure his identity and offer additional protection by acting as a helmet.

Both the henley and the crimson overcoat had two measured elastic slits that easily let him slip his wings through. A minor enchantment seemed to on them because Luca felt the material comfortable cinch down tight once the wings were through. When the entire set was on, he felt a brief surge of power as it inlaid an additional effect on his body, a slight arcane glow.

Notification: Complete Item Set "Crow Uniform"

Details: The uniform of the Crows is comprised of three parts. If all three all worn together, they will create a persistent shield that will block one offensive spell against the wearer once daily. Additionally, when the hood of the uniform is worn, the user cannot be differentiated by looks from other members also using the hood.

Maybe I should take a second look, Luca thought as he approached the mirror. For a brief moment, he had almost panicked, wondering how somebody else got into the room. When he realized it was just his own reflection, it didn't help him to breathe any easier. What he saw in his reflection was worse than he thought. He couldn't do anything but doubt that he was even himself anymore.

The unfamiliarity of his own image made him uncomfortable, scared even. It made everything he was going through and had been through already seem less real. He wasn't a kid anymore, not even a little bit. Rough stubble grew on his chin. He looked every bit the part a 17-year-old man. He wondered as his thoughts grew dark, just who am I?

Knowing he was short on time, Luca turned away from his reflection and went to leave the guest quarters. He took one last look around the room to make sure he wasn't missing anything, not wanting to leave anything behind. Luca was grateful he took the extra time to give it a second look as he saw the rough leather string of a medallion his mother had given him partially sticking out from under the pile of disgusting clothes he would never wear again.

Luca grabbed the medallion and shoved it into his pocket before running out the door downstairs toward the rec area where the rest of the team was waiting. "Yeah, I'm definitely late." He muttered to himself with a bit of worry, thinking about the angry woman who had charged into his room.

Luca ran as fast as he could, hustled as some might have called it down the stairs. The entire time he was in the view of most of his new guildmates and his new team. Dominic's new heavy hitter, awkwardly rushing on his first day, late to his first hit time. Luca saw a monstrous-looking man with a wide grin on his face staring right at him, doing a slow clap. The man's face was severely scarred. Half of the man's face was a mess of scar tissue. A permanent hue of angry red and purple, appearing as if half of it had been torn off, thrown in a fire, and then reattached.

"Well, there he is. Told you all he'd be late." Said Tatiana, standing up from her seat as she put out the palm of her hands upwards just like an usher would as she beckoned him over. "The man of the hour himself. I hope you slept well, sweetheart because that's the last time you sleep so good for months."

Next to her, the scarred man laughed, and a pale looking man with long, thin grey hair who wore glasses shifted nervously. Even as a girl with red short-cropped hair like a boy who looked roughly the same age as he now appeared to be snickered. Luca noticed they wore the same uniform he was wearing, the same uniform Tatiana was wearing. Luca didn't see anyone else at the table. This might be the whole team. Luca groaned, recognizing this was going to not go well for him.

"Newbie, your gonna need to work on making all your complaints via inner monologue. That's the last time any of us want to hear you groan. Everybody is having a shit time down here, but nobody wants to be around a downer. This life is hard enough as it is." Said the girl, gritting her teeth, already irritated with the newest member of their team.

"Well said, Steele." Agreed the scarred man, sizing up Luca with a look of disinterested. Though the man saw Luca's wings, he considered them more of a commodity than anything else. His assessment of Luca found nothing but shortcomings and fault in the kid.

"Enough of that. The kid is going to have to pay his dues later. I'm running behind as it is." Barked Tatiana, holding up her hands to silence the group. "Normally we'd train you up with us, let you leach a bit of our experience to get stronger, but only after making sure you know how to fight and wield a weapon, but Dominic wants you out in the field with us today, and he's the boss, so that's what we're doing."

"So, quick introductions, everybody, this is Luca, but when were in the field and outside of this Guild Hall, it's going to be Seraph. You know, 'cause of the wings." Explained Tatiana pointing at each one of the members of the team, commanding them with just a pointed finger to identify themselves.

"I'll go first." Said the scarred man with a grunt. "I'm 2Face, the team's primary damage dealer. Take note, this face of mine is why you don't min-max your stats. I tried to go all speed and tore off part of my face from whiplash. The dungeon heals most damage, but only enough so you can fight again, and to my left is Mother"

"I can introduce myself. Thank you." Interjected the man with the glasses, trying to appear as if he was equal on the team to 2Face. "I'm Santiago, but everyone around here calls me Mother."

"It's not because of his nurturing nature if you were wondering." Interjected 2Face with a grin.

"And I'm Steele." Said the girl, holding out her hand to shake his. Luca wasn't sure what to make of her with a name like that. "And yes, I'm a girl. I just liked how it sounded. I'm the team's tank. I draw attention from the monsters and whatever else we might go up against so the rest of you can kill whatever wants to try and kill us."

"Great. That was mostly painless," Chimed in Tatiana as she clapped her hands together, ending the introductions. "Now that everyone has introduced themselves let me lay down the ground rules before we head out to the Phoenix Refuge. I don't care what Dominic says about you being a heavy hitter. Mother is the only healer in the guild and one of the only healers in all of Hometown. He's more important to all of us than you are. If we need to abandon you to keep him alive, I will gladly do that. Aside from that, stay near me, and you should be fine."